Audio books

 

All The World's A Stage: Shakespeare's Speeches

Author : William Shakespeare

Performed By : Various

Publisher : BBC Audiobooks Ltd

Runtime : 20 minutes

Categories : Shakespeare
Classic Literature

Our Price : $9.75

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Romeo & Juliet - Act I, Scene III

"O Romeo, Romeo - wherefore art thou Romeo". This impassioned speech is beautifully spoken by Fay Compton in this BBC Sound archives recording. 

Hamlet - Act III, Scene I

'To be or not to be - that is the question….' In this BBC Sound Archive recording, Michael Redgrave stars as Shakespeare's troubled Prince of Denmark.

Henry V - Act IV, Scene III

'This day is called the feast of Crispian….' In one of the most famous and inspirational of Shakespeare's speeches, Richard Burton's rich and resonant voice delivers Henry V's address to his army on the eve of Agincourt!

King Lear - Act II, Scene IV

'I prithee, daughter, do not make me mad…' Alec Guinness's performance as King Lear stirs the listener in this recording from the BBC Sound Archives.

Macbeth - Act I, Scene VII

'If it were done when 'tis done…' From the BBC Sound Archives, one of Shakespeare's most famous and memorable speeches, with Paul Scofield and Peggy Ashcroft as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, bringing these ominous words vividly to life.

Macbeth - Act II, Scene II

'Is this a dagger which I see before me…..' With Denis Quilley as Macbeth, this recording from the BBC Sound Archives brings Shakespeare's memorable words to life..

Richard III - Act I, Scene I

'Now is the winter of our discontent….' Ian Holm delivers King Richard IIIs soliloquy, bringing Shakespeare's wonderful lines, full of pyschological insight, vividly to life.

The Merchant Of Venice - Act IV, Scene I

'The quality of mercy is not strained….' In this recording from the BBC Sound Archives, Hannah Gordon is Shakespeare's wise Portia.

speeches

Victor R. Naive Jr. from cagayan de Oro City 9000 - 24 Jul 2007

Great Model

Agnes P. Ladia, ed.D. from Tarlac City, Tarlac - 09 Sep 2007

I find the material very authentic especially for second language learners who wish to capture the "speech" of the native speakers.

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Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A

Author : Mark Twain

Performed By : Kenneth Jay

Publisher : Select Music & Distribution

Runtime : 3 hours 25 minutes

Categories : Classics
Classic Literature

Our Price : $11.99

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The magical and romantic legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table Is one of the great stories of the world. The most famous version - Le Morte d'Arthur by the 15th century writer Sir Thomas Malory, which told of Arthur, Excalibur, Merlin, Sir Launcelot, Guinevere, Sir Gawain, the search for the Holy Grail and the final battle between the King and Mordred - is full of excitement, heroism and mystery.

Like most of his generation, Mark Twain, the great 19th century comic American writer, knew and loved the book. He wrote mainly about his own time - and his greatest successes such as Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer drew on the Mississippi countryside where he grew up. But he also had a wicked sense of humour, and he wanted to show that Malory's picture of brave knights and rescued damsels was not as shiny or honourable we may like to think.

From the moment the idea came to him, to whisk a modern man (modern=1880s for Twain) back in time to the heyday of Camelot, he couldn't resist elaborating on the realities of life In Arthurian times. His Connecticut hero. Hank Morgan, found not a land of grace and ideals but one which was smelly, dangerous, uncomfortable and backward.

Hank finds that life is regarded as cheap, that torture and execution are commonplace, that superstition is everywhere and even Merlin is a con-man. Few wash, the music is terrible, living in armour is horrendous and deception is everywhere.

So Hank decides that he will make the best of his situation and introduce 6th century England to some of the improvements of his contemporary (19th century) existence - advertising, soap, newspapers, stocks and shares, and the railroad. And, with his superior knowledge, he will become The Boss.

How do the people of an older time take to it? In much the same way Twain suggests, as we would if someone from the distant future came down and tried to make us live their way: The older people generally do not like giving up their traditional ways, even though there were very clear advantages and only the youth can adapt.

Yet despite this, Hank cannot but admire some qualities of those knights and their damsels - not least the ability to stand up and fight in steel armour that would crush the contemporary man.

The novel began mainly as a delightful fantasy, but as Twain wrote, the darker side of his own character and view of the human race emerged. He believed in science, economics and practicalities; and government based on the equalities of opportunity that characterised America of Twain's day He couldn't accept a people who would choose monarchy. A Connecticut Yankee shows what can happen when these two very different societies come together.